


Monsters

by thefalloutalleyouthzone



Series: Drink You Gone [1]
Category: One Piece
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Vampire, Angst, Eventual Romance, M/M, Slow Burn, Vampire Hunter!Zoro, Vampire!Sanji
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-15
Updated: 2018-10-15
Packaged: 2019-08-02 19:03:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,030
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16310915
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thefalloutalleyouthzone/pseuds/thefalloutalleyouthzone
Summary: “What the fuck are you doing here, dartbrow?”Sanji turned and glared at the hunter, restraining himself from attacking. “I’ve been following this shitty vampire all night, mosshead. Go and find your own kill.”Zoro swung his sword narrowly close to Sanji’s head. He reacted with enough time, jumping far away from his least favorite person in the world.Zoro grabbed his last remaining sword out of its sheath and placed it in his mouth. “Or I could just kill you like I should have the first time I met you.”





	Monsters

**Author's Note:**

> title inspiration: Monsters by Ruelle
> 
> fanart commission by @ironfries on twitter/tumblr/instagram

Sanji strolled through the forest, crunching on the dead leaves scattered across the ground. He breathed in the earthy scents surrounding him, letting the aroma flood his nostrils. He glanced up at the darkness enveloping the sky and felt the temperature drop a little. It was nowhere near an uncomfortable atmosphere for him–he’d have to go to extreme measures to even get a sense of the word cold–but it was almost as if the forest knew a danger at large. It knew there was a possible threat of a human’s life coming to an end.

 

_ A typical autumn evening then.  _

 

Sanji was, as always, dressed for the occasion for his forbidden activities. He was wearing a long-sleeved white shirt layered under a dark red waistcoat that was decorated with intricate golden buttons, a pair of black pants suited for any weather,  a pair of black shoes with silver intricately weaved into their soles, and his favorite long sweeping cape.

Hands in his pant pockets, Sanji puffed on a cigarette hanging loosely on his mouth. It was a tactic he had used often enough when trying to cover up what he was. Vampires lacked certain scents compared to human beings, so he always made sure to carry around a distinct smell. Smoking was considered disgusting in the human world, but the fact that having an addiction to something so terrible made people believe that only a human could possibly have such a filthy habit, was the perfect cover-up for Sanji. 

 

He slowed down his pace after spotting a small clearance up ahead. It was exactly what he was looking for. Avoiding the crunchiness of leaves and favoring the silence of dried-up earth, he crept lightly. He extinguished his cigarette on the floor, dropping it out of his hand and crushing his foot down on the bud. It was a movement he had perfected over the years in an attempt to blend in with normality, despite being so far from it.  He then tried to pinpoint on any particular sound or movement that gave an indication he was on the right track. He decided to slow his breathing down also, doing whatever he could possibly think of to not give away his presence.

 

Sanji continued to move slowly–or at least his definition of slow–before coming to a gap between some trees with a semi-decent view. He perched down with the tail of his cape sweeping the ground and his blonde curls bouncing lightly on top of his forehead as he descended. He squinted his eyes–another habit he had picked up in order to appear more 'normal' even though he could still see everything so vividly in the dark–and identified a shape over 50 meters away that he was very familiar with; two bodies pressed tightly against one another.

There were obvious telltales of how Sanji knew this wasn’t a sensational meeting between two lovers. One smelt of blood and life and the other one smelt like his own kind. One of the bodies appeared more solid, hovering over the other, whilst the other looked horrifyingly limp. The strong, defiant figure also had their mouth pressed against the other’s neck, not shifting an inch from its position. He couldn’t tell what the gender of the victim was, but he could tell that he hadn’t got there fast enough to save them.

 

_ Dammit. _

 

Sanji tried to remain motionless when he heard a voice speaking out. It hadn’t been his own, and it wasn’t the victim crying out for help. It was a male voice, from the vampire that was currently sucking the life out of the human, voicing themselves loud and clear.

 

“I know you’re there.”

 

Sanji stayed hovering in the dark. If he had a pulse, he would be trying to muster all of his strength to keep his heart beating at the steady pace, not allowing himself to give in to such a taunt.

 

But he didn’t have a pulse.

 

Sanji felt hesitant. It was an emotion some humans were well known for and he had spent a lifetime beforehand being extremely fluent in it. He was squatting so far away from the vampire that he shouldn’t haven’t been able to be identified, but after drinking fresh blood, it was well known that vampire’s senses become heightened.

 

“It’s your scent that’s giving it away you know.”

 

Sanji internally frowned. If the vampire could smell his scent, he must know he was speaking to one of his own.

Sanji sniffed at the air, trying to pick up another scent. There was in fact one. It was faint but obviously human. Sanji picked up a familiarity to it, yet struggled to pin down where he had smelt it before.

 

The vampire lifted his head and looked in the opposite direction to Sanji. “You didn’t clean one of your swords from your last battle properly, hunter.”

 

Sanji realized then that there was other hiding away, getting ready to strike. Alarm bells were going off in his head, trying to warn him that the scent of the other equaled trouble, but it was still too faint for him to figure it out. There was something intoxicating about it though that put Sanji on edge.

 

Finished with his meal, the vampire stood up and waited patiently for the other person to make their move. Sanji considered striking whilst he was distracted, but dismissed the idea and decided to wait and see who else was there.

His eyebrows twitched, a sign that told him something bad was going to happen. He hoped they were completely wrong. 

 

He didn’t have to wait very long to find out.

 

A sudden flash of silver came flying out of the shadows, sprawling quickly towards the center of the clearance where the vampire stood. Sanji couldn’t make out much from where he was, a branch kept snapping back over his eye level, but the hunter was dressed all in black, with a golden haramaki wrapped around his waist and was carrying swords. His moves were swift and calculated, getting close enough to land a strike on the pale skin that stood out against the dark shadows of the night.

 

But not close enough. 

 

Any vampire was extremely fast to the human eye. This particular one dodged every blow the hunter tried to land, moving gracefully away each time as if he was doing a dance and not trying to avoid the tip of a silver-edged sword. It was an  impressive weapon that not many people could use, let alone hold. Unfortunately, Sanji’s view of the hunter kept getting blocked by the vampire's put-on slow movements. He stood up, trying to get a better view.

 

Then, the two switched sides and Sanji saw who the vampire was facing.

 

His face fell, suddenly knowing what had made his eyebrows twitch.

 

He clenched his entire body in frustration, livid that he hadn’t been able to identify the scent sooner that was now blocking up his entire nose. He instantly felt his body jerk, impatient to get out and kill the vampire before the other person got him first. 

 

_ That fucking marimo. _

 

He watched relentlessly as the vampire hunter named Zoro repeatedly swung his silver-edged swords that he himself had had the unfortunate pleasure of meeting a few times. The bastard had to carry three, because two simply weren’t enough for the moron, despite that being above the normal limit of swords to carry and he was still only using two at the moment. 

 

It was so infuriating. 

 

To be fair, it was extremely hard for a human to be able to fight head-on with a vampire for such a long time like Zoro was doing now.

But that’s what angered Sanji even more.

 

He continued to watch, waiting for the perfect opening. He couldn’t let the green-haired bastard get the kill; but it would also mean that if he did jump in now, it would seem as though he would be trying to save the moron’s life.

 

Sanji ran his tongue across his sharp teeth, trying to decide what to do. It didn’t look like Zoro had the upper hand yet, but he had seen the man in action and knew he could shift the dynamic around, and he really didn’t want that tonight.

 

He stayed hidden behind the trees for a good while until he saw one of Zoro’s swords scratch the vampire across his chest, causing his skin to break.

 

_ That’s it. _

 

Gritting his teeth, Sanji burst out his hiding area and instantaneously round kicked the vampire across its head. He didn’t hold his anger back very well and ended up putting more strength than intended into his kick, causing the other vampire to hit a tree a little harder than he had intended with a loud crack, splitting it in half.

 

“What the fuck are you doing here, dartbrow?” 

 

Sanji turned and glared at the hunter, restraining himself from attacking. “I’ve been following this shitty vampire all night, mosshead. Go and find your own kill.”

 

Zoro swung his sword narrowly close to Sanji’s head. He reacted with enough time, jumping far away from his least favorite person in the world. 

 

Zoro grabbed his last remaining sword out of its sheath and placed it in his mouth. “Or I could just kill you like I should have the first time I met you.”

 

Sanji rolled his eyes, having seen this little trick a few times before. He’d be lying if he said the sight didn’t impress him, how the man managed to keep his sword in his mouth and speak with complete ease. He didn't know how he did it.

He gave Zoro a once-over, trying to see if anything had changed since seeing him last. He noticed the vampire hunter still wore his immense scar running along his chest with pride and had picked another up deep scar on his left eye, forcing it to remain shut.

 

Sanji smirked at him, feeling confident he could take him on. “I’d like to see you try.” 

 

“Let me take care of this bloodsucker first and then I’ll show you.” Zoro started to walk in the direction of where the vampire had landed, but Sanji intervened, grabbing the man’s elbow.

“What part of ‘I’ve been following this vampire all night’ didn’t you understand, marimo? He’s mine. Now fuck off.” 

 

Zoro lowered his one eye down, glaring at Sanji’s hold on him. “No can do, curly. Once I set my eye on a vampire,” Zoro leveled his eye back up with Sanji's own as he was speaking, “I don’t stop until they’re no longer moving.” 

 

Sanji stood there, scowling at the moss-headed idiot. He didn’t want the hunter to take the vampire on, meaning he didn’t have much choice in taking Zoro on either. He'd have to bait him away from his own intended target. 

 

Sanji pushed on. “Is that so? How come I’m still alive, then?”

 

Zoro shrugged his hand off of his elbow and removed his sword from his mouth, placing it back into its sheath. The blonde felt a little offended that the man didn’t think he needed it in the current situation. 

 

“Technically, you’re not alive,” Zoro spat.

 

“You know what I fucking meant.” 

 

Zoro took a sudden step forward causing the blonde to take a step back unconsciously.

“Who says I won’t be going for you next?” 

Another step closer.

“Who says I won’t slit your throat at any second?” Zoro extended the sword in his left hand and pressed it hard on Sanji’s collarbone against his white shirt. He could feel the silvered edge burning through the material, marking his skin. He could smell the dried blood of vampires coated along the blade, overwhelming him with how close it was. He hissed, a natural instinct with this particular circumstance. Zoro had managed to do it when they had met before. Silver was one of the few weaknesses that vampires had and Zoro having weapons mostly covered in silver, had made Sanji outright shiver during their first encounter.

He didn’t move away from it now though, not yet.

Zoro continued to speak. “But right now… there’s worse scum I need to take care of. So just go back into hiding or whatever the fuck you were doing before until I’m done with him.”

 

Sanji narrowed his eyes. He definitely couldn’t let Zoro win this round, not after last time. He shifted closer to the marimo, moving along the sword’s blade as if tempting death–a common situation for them both.

 

“You better watch your mouth or I’ll rip your fucking head off, bastard. I told you, he’s my prey tonight.” Sanji snapped.

 

Zoro reacted with nothing. Instead, he moved closer to the other, demonstrating how little he feared.

 

“And I told  _ you _ that once I set my eyes on one of you undead freaks, “ Zoro bit back with a snarl, “l don’t stop until I can no longer feel, sense and hear you.”

 

They stayed like that for a few minutes, trying to make the other back down. Sanji could feel the silver from the blade pressing into his skin now, breaking it a little. In a strange way, it was refreshing. He was feeling physical pain, something he didn’t experience often, and his body was becoming as weak as a human’s as the length of time progressed with the sword positioned against him. 

 

But he couldn’t  _ show  _ that .

 

“Or I dispose of the witnesses by killing you both.” 

 

Sanji and Zoro both turned their heads towards where the voice came from.

The vampire had recovered from the kick and was now standing dexterously, pushing up a pair of glasses onto his face with the edge of his hand, obviously intended for show rather than use. Sanji figured he was using them to blend in with his prey since vampires are widely known to have perfect eyesight. He also wore a black suit, appearing ripped in some places, yet the vampire who seemed to have gone for a stylish look didn’t seem too fazed by it.

 

Sanji saw Zoro curl his lip out of the corner of his eye. “Ha! That wouldn’t be the first time I hear that. Come at me already, you fucking vermin.” Zoro withdrew his sword that was still placed against Sanji’s neck and brought it around to face the other vampire.

 

The vampire laughed and smiled thinly, his glasses tinted with the moonlight. “Your blood must taste amazing. The strong ones always do.” 

 

Sanji pulled a disgusted face at this remark. Sure, the blood pumping through Zoro’s veins smelt extremely sweet and possibly sickly, a good sign for any vampire if they wanted to sink their teeth into a healthy human, but the idea of killing something unlawfully made Sanji’s skin crawl. Frustratingly, he did need to drink blood every now and then to keep himself ‘alive’, but he would only hunt the animals that humans deemed acceptable to eat for themselves. 

He turned to his side and saw Zoro pulling the same disgusted face. It didn't stay for long; he watched  Zoro’s face transform with incredible fierceness and determination written across his face. The hunter heard the intended threat loud and clear but didn’t fall for the bait- thank god he wasn’t a total idiot. He swung his swords around to his front and positioned himself ready for combat.

 

Sanji frowned at the idiot's display. He still needed to finish this vampire off, but he knew it wasn’t going to be easy. Zoro appeared confident, which made himself feel even more outrageous for some reason.

 

“I’m not leaving, marimo.”

 

Zoro looked at him, unsure of what Sanji was trying to achieve. He held his breath, seemingly trying to figure out for a few seconds if he was gonna have to take two vampires on at the same time. 

 

Zoro’s response was surprising. “Whatever. But if you get in my way, I’m killing you, too.”

 

Sanji chuckled, tapping the tip of his shoe against the ground, getting ready to attack. “As if I’d die by the hands of a low-class hunter like you.”

 

Zoro was in the middle of making a comeback when he got abruptly struck across the chest. Sanji watched as he lost balance and flew backward into a tree, giving a grunt as a branch snapped across his face from the impact. Zoro started to bleed out, with 5 great cuts embedded into his skin. 

Sanji whirled around, regretfully using his vampire senses to detect danger. He was still too slow though and felt painful silver digging into his skin again, but this time it managed to sink further into his body, hitting his stomach. He jumped back, allowing dark blood to spill from his body, landing in a crouch.

 

Sanji spat out a bit of phlegm before straightening himself out. The vampire stood there with thin metal blades attached to each finger, unfazed. He glanced over quickly to see Zoro staggering up as well, leaning against his swords. The attack against Sanji probably gave the marimo idiot some time to recover. Already feeling his wounds healing up, Sanji calculated their chances of winning. 

It wasn’t going to be one of his better fights. 

 

“Just stay out of this marimo,” Sanji warned.

 

“Fuck off, twirly, I’m dealing with you next.” Zoro pulled a bandana off of his arm and wrapped it around his forehead. He grabbed his swords again and placed the third one in his mouth.

He managed to block the attack this time, the sound of metal clashing in confirmation. Sanji could see why three swords were better for this duel, but he wasn’t going to admit it and become best pals with the hunter anytime soon.

Yet the vampire was in his element after drinking all that blood, and countered every attack, even when Sanji got involved and swung his leg around from behind.

 

“Surely 2 vs 1 isn’t entirely fair.” The vampire smirked.

 

Sanji ignored him and jumped into the air as the vampire swooped his hand backward, missing the blow by an inch. He somersaulted and managed to collide with the vampire’s blades by jolting down hard, feeling the snap of one beneath his feet. He continued his attack mid-air, fastening the pace of his multitude of infamous kicks. Another blade was bending to his will and he probably would have succeeded in snapping another off of the man’s hand, if he hadn’t encountered a sheer intensity of pain.

Body lurching, he reached out in agony to touch his body where the pain was coming from and felt a slickness covering his entire left side. He landed on the ground with a loud thud, clenching his muscles to try and stop himself from reacting too much. 

 

_ Fuck. _

 

It had been a deep cut, meaning the recovery process would move a little slower than normal. He peered down at his hand that was now painted with his own dark blood and stayed like that for a few seconds, feeling his body sew itself up.  Slightly dazed, he fumbled to get back up, highly aware he was exposing himself from losing his composure. 

When he looked over to the where the other vampire stood, he saw he had also fallen to the ground, clutching the opposite side of Sanji’s but with the same wound. Sanji spun to his left and saw Zoro just coming out of his attack stance. His swords were covered in their own blood.

 

“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?”

 

“Defeating the enemy. I warned you, shitty vampire.”

 

Sanji clenched his teeth, trying not to bite Zoro’s head off. It went against his personal rules but he was  _ so tempted  _ in changing that for the moss-headed idiot.

 

The other vampire got up, wounds already healing. “Yes... what makes you so special? What makes you think you can defeat me, Kuro the strategist, when you’re not even using half of your powers?”

 

Sanji frowned, “The what now?”

 

The vampire–Kuro, tilted his glasses, similar to how he had done before they had all started fighting one another and chucked. “Strategist. What you two imbeciles aren’t because you’re struggling not to tear each other apart.” He stepped closer, blades glistening in the moonlight. “Now, why don’t you come at me with full force, blondie?”

 

Sanji had had enough. He was dealing with two severely obnoxious people, trying to hold back the temptation on going full force. He had only done it a few times as a last resort and he had regretted it every time, but he hadn’t had any other choice.

He wasn’t about to do that now, he told himself. He didn’t need to. He’d met vampires stronger and faster than Kuro before, it was just harder this time because he had a certain mossball distracting him.

 

Kuro cracked a snarky grin before quickly disappearing from his spot and immediately reappearing in front on Sanji, punching him in the gut. He tried to harden his body a little bit more, but it was no use against the silver that he had already been exposed to from earlier on. Sanji kicked out in retaliation but the vampire disappeared again before he could land a blow. Milliseconds later, he saw Kuro reappear and go for Zoro. The hunter managed to land a hit on Kuro, catching him with the silver on his blades and sliced his body several times. He was so much slower than the vampire, yet the precision for his attacks was remarkable, allowing him to strike the vampire several times as no other human could. The sound of flesh being struck again and again echoed in the clearance as the smell of death hung in the air more prominently than before. 

 

Sanji felt a fiery determination building up in his gut as he spectated all of Zoro’s attacks. He had experienced it before when watching the other man fight. He couldn’t really explain why, but it made him feel extremely powerful, something similar to an adrenaline rush perhaps. He flipped over onto his legs and caught Kuro in the heat of the fight against Zoro, whipping his leg around and connecting his foot with the vampire’s jaw, receiving a definitive  _ snap. _

 

Finally, things were turning around for the better.

 

Sanji and Zoro managed to reign in hard for the next few minutes, attacking their opponent simultaneously and weakening his strength. Sanji wasn’t sure whether or not Zoro was paying attention to the unorganized teamwork; he figured the marimo hunter wanted to get Kuro out of the picture so that the so-called ‘real fight’ could begin, but he was impressed at how well they brought the 'strategist' to his knees–all by the swing of a few swords and some kicks. 

 

Kuro’s outrage fizzled in the air, frustrated by how he was starting to lose; yet that only fed Zoro and Sanji even more as the hunter moved closer to his side, vigorously swinging his swords and achieving blow after blow. He sliced Kuro’s body repeatedly and never allowed it a chance to heal. 

Sanji caught Zoro glancing at him from the corner of his eye as he pivoted his legs full circle against Kuro’s chest, using his hands to steady himself. It was obvious the man was trying to get his attention, but he was preoccupied dealing with the enemy.

 

He finally looked at the hunter after landing another hit and saw an expression that filled him with dread, excitement, and euphoria all at once. He could see Zoro was calculating something in his head; something that he needed Sanji’s help with it seemed. The  smile mixed with a snarl that was painted across the man's face was a dead giveaway. 

 

Idiotically, Sanji’s brief distraction caused him to drop his guard.

 

He felt a rapid, chilling sensation crawl along his neck and a slight pierce to his skin. He grunted out in agony. Vampires rarely attacked each other’s necks; it was an unwritten rule amongst them since there was hardly an instant where a vampire would need to attack another vampire. He instantly flipped backward, effortlessly kicking Kuro into the air, harder than he was anticipating. 

Trying to recover from the sudden, sharp sense of pain, Sanji realized that he couldn’t see Zoro in the clearance anywhere and had the sinking feeling he had been completely abandoned in the middle of the fight. It wouldn't have been the first time at least. He whipped his head around, scanning the area until his eyes finally connected with a black, gold, and green blur running at him. Something inside his brain instantly clicked into place and he understood what the marimo had wanted of him seconds before.

 

Zoro didn’t try to figure out if Sanji was on the same page as him since he flung himself slightly into the air without delay, hovering over Sanji’s left leg. The blonde nodded briefly at him, showing he knew what he needed to do and kicked the hunter ferociously into the air, following the path Kuro had led. Zoro rotated fast in mid air, spinning himself into a mini tornado and became an unstoppable havoc. Sanji watched in fascination as Zoro’s swords shone under the moonlight, ripping into Kuro as soon as they made contact. The sword placed in his mouth was perfectly in line with Kuro’s neck, massacring it away from his body. Blood spurted everywhere as  Kuro’s head rolled off of his body and landed with a heavy thump against the ground, signalling the end of the fight. 

 

Sanji let out a breath he didn’t realise he was holding onto. He stood waiting for something else to happen, but nothing did. He slowly walked on over to the vampire, kicking it in the stomach to make sure it wasn’t going to move anytime soon.

 

 

Now came the really important part; burning it.

 

“One more down, hundreds more to go.” Sanji looked up and saw the obnoxious vampire hunter wiping his swords along his black cape, cleaning off the blood. He strolled on over to him, looking pleased with his victory. “That wasn’t too difficult, was it, curly?” 

 

“Sure…” Sanji sighed, teeth digging into his tongue. He was highly irritated by Zoro’s wide, arrogant smile, but that technically wasn’t anything new.

 

Zoro sheathed his three swords and crouched down near the vampire’s body, observing it. He kept switching positions and Sanji couldn’t help but watch numbly until the other spoke. “Well, it’s getting real late and I gotta make sure I get this body to the boss as quickly as possible.” Zoro shifted himself and heaved the body swiftly over his shoulders. “So I’ll be seeing ya.”

 

Sanji stilled. 

He couldn’t let Zoro take the body. He didn’t trust that fucker for a single second. 

He had to be the one; he had to be the one who burned it.

 

Sanji grabbed the man’s arm for the second time that evening. “You’re not fucking going anywhere.”

 

Zoro didn’t move away but huffed at him. “What?”

 

Sanji gripped on his arm, applying more pressure. “I’m not letting you take that body.”

 

“Well then, it’s a good thing I didn’t ask you for your permission.” Zoro tried to shrug Sanji’s arm off but it was proving to be a little difficult with a lanky figure hanging over his shoulder.

 

“You’re going to have to fight me then, shitty marimo.”

 

Zoro yanked his body away from Sanji’s grip and turned to face the blonde fully. “For fuck’s sake, are you being serious right now? Why do you even want his body, anyway? Didn’t you want to kill him too, bloodsucker?”

 

Sanji couldn’t help but bare his teeth at the vampire hunter for that snide nickname, exposing his fangs in the moonlight rather rashly. “Yes, asshole.”

 

“Okay then, he’s fucking dead.”

 

“But I also want his body.” Sanji repeated.

 

“Why, though?” Zoro was extremely curious when the bastard wanted to be.

 

The vampire was trying so hard not to kick the hunter to the floor. “That’s none of your business.”

 

The mosshead smirked at this remark, leaning closer to Sanji. “Is that so? Kinda is gonna have to be since I’m not planning on giving his body up.” 

 

Sanji made a 'tch' noise. He was getting more and more frustrated by the second. He didn't have time to fuck around. He needed to burn the body before sunrise otherwise he won’t be able to get back to his hideout; or be able to live in fact. “You’re making this more difficult than it has to be, algae-head. Just give him to me.”

 

“Fucking tell me why first and I might just consider it.” 

 

it was only then when Sanji truly lost his chill. He pressed hard against Zoro’s chest, making him stumble a little but the other didn’t grab for his swords surprisingly. “How about YOU tell me why you need the body? He’s dead, right, marimo? So what exactly could you possibly do with a useless dead vampire’s body?”

 

“Mihawk needs it.” Zoro shrugged, as if that answered every goddamn question in the world. Sanji didn’t know who this Mihawk person was apart from being Zoro’s apparent boss, but he didn’t like the situation one bit. There were hundreds of vampires he couldn’t trust, yet they were also hundreds of humans he couldn’t trust either.

“What does he need it for?”

 

The hunter rolled his one good eye, annoying the fuck out of Sanji even more. “How the fuck should I know?! That’s up to him, man. I’m just in charge of bringing the bodies to him.”

 

Sanji snorted loudly. “Yeah, then fuck that. There’s no way I’m letting you leave with that body and risk having you shitty hunters do some crazy shit using his body and put us all in danger.” 

 

Zoro stepped back, placing his other hand on the body still hanging over his shoulder like he was protecting a sacred piece of food. “What the fuck are you even talking about, curly?”

 

“Just give me the body, mosshead.”

 

“What did you mean when you said ‘put us all in danger’?”

 

Sanji frowned at the confused expression in the hunter’s voice. It was clear the moss-headed idiot didn’t know a thing, yet he didn’t want to have to give a history lesson at a time like this. He needed to get back as soon as possible.

“Ugh. Have you seriously not heard of shitty humans fucking enslaving vampires and even using their blood as a way to turn against other humans?”

 

An unknown flash of fear flickered in Zoro’s eyes, but was quick to disappear. “Ha! That’s not possible.”

 

“Think again, asshole. It is. And I’ve seen it happen. That’s why burning a vampire’s body is fucking crucial, so shit like that doesn’t happen!”

 

“So that’s what you wanna do with the body?” Sanji rolled his eyes, feeling it should have been obvious from the beginning since that was the correct procedure for making sure a vampire couldn’t come back. Zoro ignored that though and continued to be a dick. “Whatever. It’s not like Mihawk was gonna do that, anyway.”

 

It was Sanji’s turn to prod questions. “Oh, so you do know what Mihawk wants to do with the body, then?”

 

“I didn’t say that. But he also wouldn’t be the kind of person to do that fucked up shit.” Zoro’s eyes were getting darker, notifying the vampire that he was close to stepping over the hunter’s patience; pretty much how he himself had been treated with tonight’s meeting.

 

“How can you trust that he won’t?” Sanji questioned.

 

“Because I’ve known him pretty much most of my life, bloodsucker.” Zoro growled. 

The little nickname made Sanji’s own vampire blood felt like it was boiling . 

 

Sanji tried his best to ignore the name and pressed on with the interrogations, not giving up with the fight. “You do know everyone has a different persona or social mask based on who they deal with, right? Just because he may treat you a certain way doesn’t mean he’s like that with everyone.”

 

Zoro lunged at Sanji, forgetting the headless body and letting it fall off of his shoulder. “Don't confuse us humans with you monsters, bloodsucker!”

 

Sanji snarled at that nickname again but was closely followed by being shoved onto the muddy ground by the vampire hunter. He found himself being straddled by the marimo, a full-blown pressure digging into his body. He tried to kick his way out, but Zoro’s heavy weight rested on his hips, restricting the mighty power in his legs. Panting at the force of it all, he heard the almost-silent sound of a sword being unsheathed and instantly felt a blade pressing against his neck for what felt like the millionth time that evening. 

 

Sanji groaned. He really didn’t want to give this Mihawk guy something he could use against everyone, but time was running out for him as the sun drew nearer. He couldn’t risk it tonight.

“I’m not expecting you to believe me. And I don’t know why I’m telling you all this shit but if you’re gonna take the goddamn body, at least make sure he burns it and terrible shit isn’t done, okay?”

 

The blade was pressed more roughly against the vampire’s neck. “I don’t take orders from you.”

 

“It’s not an order, bastard. It’s me making sure that you hunters won’t endanger this city.” Sanji snapped back.

 

“Speaking of which, curly… Before, you said ‘put _us_ all in danger’, but you were only talking about humans so how does that make sense?”

 

The blonde knitted his eyebrows. “What?”

 

“You were talking about yourself, too.”

 

Sanji didn’t have a response for that. He didn’t need to tell an arrogant bastard, who was determined to kill him, his entire life story. He didn’t have the time.

 

Zoro didn't give a damn about the blonde's apparent uncomfortableness. “And then when we were fighting that vampire, he commented on you not using your full strength… Why was that?” 

 

Sanji felt a different kind of pressure pressing down on him, a figurative one. He was trying to figure a way of how to swat the sword away from him throat or how to flip the hunter onto his back to allow him to get up, yet all the questioning was throwing him off.

 

Still, the marimo didn’t deserve to know why. “It doesn’t concern you. Like I said, you can keep the body as long you can make sure it’ll be burnt. Now get off.”

 

“Why are you suddenly changing the topic, curly?” Zoro curled his lips, seeming to have realised he had hit a sore spot.

 

Sanji glowered at him and gave a reply that made him seem more like a vampire than he ever had been: “Why do you care, shitty human?”

 

“I don’t.”

 

“Well then stop fucking asking. Just get off me and take the goddamn body with you.” Sanji spat.

 

Zoro pressed the blade against Sanji’s neck once more, receiving another snarl from the blonde in return. He promptly got up from the vampire and paced over to the discarded body. He made sure to grab the head of Kuro as well, holding onto it by the hair. It was a profounding image to witness, but no doubt it was second nature to Zoro.

 

Sanji waited for him to leave the clearance for good before sitting back up. He was frustrated with himself for letting the idiot get the body, but he hoped the man was smart enough to listen to his advice.

 

He had hoped for a lot of things in the past though.

 

Sanji lifted himself up and wiped down the dirt off of his clothes. He listened out for any other suspicious beings lurking around, but felt too anxious about the time to catch anything nearby. He patted his pant pockets and pulled out a cigarette from them. He grabbed his lighter from the other pocket and proceeded to light up his ‘addiction’.

 

Sanji bit down harder than he had intended on the cigarette, nearly causing it to break.

 

_ I’m gonna win next time, marimo. _

  
  
  


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**Author's Note:**

> thank you so much for reading! 
> 
> we hope this will become a series of one-shots that we can keep adding to over time so keep your eyes peeled!


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